Faithless Elector (United States)
A faithless elector, in the United States, is an elector who casts their vote for a candidate differing from the one which their state voted for in the recent election. Many states have laws trying to prevent faithless electors, with consequences ranging from monetary fines to replacing the person selected to cast the vote entirely. Despite all the controversies behind faithless electors, this practice has never changed the outcome of the election winner. Faithless Votes Original System Under the original electoral rules there was no provision for a Presidential Ticket naming a specific Candidate for President and a specific Candidate for Vice-President. The first President was so popular that there was never any doubt electors would cast their votes for both Candidates, and one elector in one State would cast a favorite Son vote instead of voting for the Vice Presidential Candidate. This wasn't seen as faithless, but rather as faithful to the intent. After the retirement of President Washington, and the formation of the first Political Parties, things got strange. The Former Vice-President John Adams, and Charles Pinkney were the Federalist Candidates and it was understood that Adams was to be the Presidential Candidate and Pinkney the Vice-Presidential Candidate, and for the Democratic-Republican Party, Thomas Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr for Vice-President. The problems occurred when the head of the Federalist Party tried to get electors to elect Pinkney as President and Adams as Vice-President. The plot was discovered before the actual vote, and some of the electors were so upset at the betrayal that they cast votes for Thomas Jefferson rather than Pinkney. The result was the first and only time that a President and Vice-President from different Parties were elected. In the election of 1800, the same Candidates ran for the same Parties. Remembering the debacle of 1796, the Democratic-Republican electors cast every vote for the Candidates they were pledged to. This resulted in another first and only, an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The tie threw the contest to the outgoing Congress which was still in the control of the other Party, the Federalists. There were dozens of votes with no decision on which man would be President and which Vice-President before the Federalist Party leader, still Hamilton, could broker a deal to have Jefferson, who was a rival, beat Burr, whom he disliked. * In 1796, the states of Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina each voted for the Democratic-Republic Party, but one faithless elector in each of these states cast their vote for the Federalist Party. * The 1800 Election was fairly bizarre, as the electors had two votes (each for the two candidates of their chosen party). Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr each got 73 electoral votes, while John Adams and Charles C. Pinckney from the opposing party received 65 and 64 respectively. ** 4 of the 12 electoral votes in North Carolina were cast against the state winner, voting for the Federalist candidates. ** 7 of the 15 electoral votes in Pennsylvania were cast against the state winner, voting for the Federalist candidates. ** Maryland split their 10 electoral votes, with 5 going to the Democratic-Republic Party and the other 5 going to the Federalist Party. 12th Amendment The 12th Amendment ended that nonsense and put in place the system we have now where each Party puts forth a Candidate for President and a Candidate for Vice-President. * In 1804, 2 of the 11 electoral votes in Maryland were cast against the state winner Thomas Jefferson, voting for Charles C. Pinckney. * In 1808, 6 of the 19 electoral votes in New York were cast against the state winner James Madison, voting for the third-party candidate George Clinton. ** 3 of the 14 electoral votes in North Carolina were cast against the state winner James Madison, voting for the Federalist candidate Charles C. Pinckney. * In 1820, one faithless elector in New Hampshire voted for John Quincy Adams. This was the only electoral vote John Quincy Adams would receive, as the rest of the states voted unanimously for James Monroe. * The 1824 U.S. Presidential Election was infamous for many electoral flaws and faithless electors, with the eventual winner winning less than 40% of the popular vote. The initial second-place finisher, John Quincy Adams, was voted president by the House of Representatives, as the initial electoral college winner, Andrew Jackson, did not obtain the majority of electoral votes. Andrew Jackson would win the following election. ** See Also: 269 * In 1828, Maryland split their 11 electoral votes between winner Andrew Jackson (5) and John Quincy Adams (6). Andrew Jackson won the popular vote in Maryland. ** New York split their 36 electoral votes between Andrew Jackson (20) and John Quincy Adams (16). Andrew Jackson won the popular vote in New York. ** A faithless elector in Maine voted against the state winner John Quincy Adams, casting the vote for Andrew Jackson. * In 1832, Maryland split their 10 electoral votes between Henry Clay (5) and winner Andrew Jackson (3). The two remaining electoral votes were not cast, which would not happen again until 2000. * In 1860, New Jersey split their 7 electoral votes between winner Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas (4 for Lincoln, 3 for Douglas). Douglas won the popular vote in New Jersey. * In 1872, Democratic Nominee Horace Greeley received 63 electoral votes. but died shortly after the election. As a result, electors were forced to cast in "faithless votes". * In 1876, there were "officially" no faithless electors, but the truth is probably stranger and much more complicated, with one elector Constitutionally ineligible but allowed to vote, and the votes of several States disputed, but decided in favor of Republicans by Strict Party-line vote. The usually accepted explanation is that the election was given to the eventual winner in the Compromise of 1876. * In 1880, 1 of the 6 electoral votes in California was cast against Winfield Hancock, cast for the winner James A. Garfield * In 1892, North Dakota had three electoral votes and was split evenly between the three main contenders. The Peoples' Party candidate James B. Weaver won the popular vote in that state. ** That same election, 5 of the 14 electoral votes were cast faithless in Michigan, all of which were for Grover Cleveland, who would be elected president. ** 1 of the 23 electoral votes in Ohio was cast against state winner Benjamin Harrison, casted for Grover Cleveland. ** 1 of the 9 electoral votes in California was casted against state winner Grover Cleveland, casted for the Incumbent Benjamin Harrison. ** 1 of the 4 electoral votes in Oregon was casted against state winner Benjamin Harrison, casted for James B. Weaver. * In 1896, California and Kentucky casted one faithless elector each for William Jennings Bryan. * In 1904, one faithless elector in Maryland casted their vote against state winner Alton B. Parker, voting for the winner Theodore Roosevelt. * In 1912, 2 of the 13 electoral votes in California voted against state winner Theodore Roosevelt, voting for winner Woodrow Wilson. * In 1916, one faithless elector in West Virginia casted for vote against state winner Charles E. Hughes, voting for winner Woodrow Wilson. * In 1948, States' Right Democratic candidate J. Strom Thurmond received a faithless vote from Tennessee. * In 1956, 1 of the 11 electoral votes of Alabama voted against Adlai Stevenson, voting for independent Walter B. Jones. * In 1960, John F. Kennedy won the state of Alabama, but 6 of their 11 electoral votes were casted as "faithless" to Harry F. Byrd. Byrd also won the state of Mississippi, along with receiving one faithless vote from Oklahoma. * In 1968, American Independent Party candidate George Wallace received 1 of the 13 electoral votes in North Carolina. * In 1972, 1 of the 12 electoral votes in Virginia was casted faithless for Libertarian Party candidate John Hospers. * In 1976, Washington State voted for Gerald Ford, but one faithless elector casted a vote for Ronald Reagan, who would later become POTUS. * In 1988, Michael Dukakis's running-mate Lloyd Bentsen received a faithless vote in West Virginia. * In 2000, no faithless votes occurred. However, one of the three voters selected for Washington D.C. did not cast their vote. Washington D.C. has the minimum amount of electoral votes (3), and as a consequence they only received two electoral votes. This person refused to cast her vote as a protest due to their lack of representation in Congress (Washington D.C. does not have representing senators like the 50 states do). This was the first time a vote was not casted since 1832. * In 2004, John Kerry's running-mate John Edwards received a "faithless vote" from Minnesota. A similar situation happened in 1988. While the person who casted the vote is unknown, the person acted as if their vote was "a mistake" (Link). * In 2016, many "faithless votes" took place, some of which were cancelled. Three of Washington's electoral votes were casted for Colin Powell, with another for Faith Spotted Eagle. One of Texas's electoral votes was casted for Ron Paul, with another being casted for John Kasich. In Hawaii, a faithless elector was casted for Bernie Sanders. ** Additionally, one "faithless elector" in Maine planned on casting his vote for Bernie Sanders, with another in Minnesota planning on doing the same, along with another in Colorado planning on voting for John Kasich. However, these three planned "faithless votes" were cancelled and replaced. How it Works Every four years (leap year) on the first Tuesday of November (unless it's November 1st, in which case it will be the following Tuesday), the United States holds a Presidential Election. About a month later, in December, citizens aged 18 and up are selected to cast their vote, one person for each electoral vote a state has (e.g. in California 55 people are selected for they have 55 electoral votes). Each elector, regardless of whether or not faithless electing is allowed, is expected to vote for the person the state elected. Back before the 20th century, many faithless electors were casted for the opposite party, but most "faithless electors" today are for somebody who had dropped out of the race, or somebody else altogether. External Links * Faithless Electors - Fairvote * Faithless Elector State Laws - Fairvote Category:Presidential Elections Category:American Politics Category:US History